


And the Birds of the Sky Have Their Nests

by Silverheart



Series: Bats and Birds [8]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 03:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4549557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverheart/pseuds/Silverheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Harley's Revenge, Tim decides to surprise Barb with some takeout dinner (or is it breakfast?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	And the Birds of the Sky Have Their Nests

Barb was reading in bed when Tim knocked on her window. She looked up and rolled her eyes, then hit some button to unlock it and let him in. He slipped in, stretching once his feet hit the floor. It was a small window. It shut automatically behind him.

“There is a front door.”

“I thought you might be asleep.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “So you were going to watch me sleep?”

“No, I would have eaten all the take-out by myself on some lonely rooftop.” He held up the bag. “Golden Dragon, too. Your favorite place.”

She reached over and took the food from him. “You got Chinese in uniform?”

“I’ve seen Bruce order coffee as Batman.”

“He was being targeted a dream-controlling psychic. He couldn’t fall asleep.” She tore open the bag like a wild thing. Tim grinned at her, pushing his hood back. He’d needed this. “Go get some real forks.”

“Too good for chopsticks?”

“You don’t get to tease me about that at four AM, especially not after everything that happened tonight.”

“Right, sorry.” He obediently headed down to the kitchen and brought back the required silverware. Barb had already laid out the food in her plan of attack on her bed. She’d courteously left Tim a spot on the bed next to her.

Tim sank down into it gratefully, aware he smelled of sweat, blood, smoke, and all sorts of Arkham City filth. He handed her a fork. “He went home, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, Alfred called as soon as he got in. Even took a shower and went to his actual bed, apparently.”

“Two days locked up in a cage will do that to you, even if you’re Batman.” Tim removed his mask. He felt halfway human now. “Don’t eat all the wontons, Barb.”

She let him snatch a few. “Did he say anything?”

Tim laughed bitterly around his wanton and nearly choked on it. “Oh, come on, the man won’t even say thank you when I saved his life. To me, at least.”

“Don’t be that way. He wouldn’t even say it to Alfred, either.”

Tim concentrated on the bowl of soup. It hit the spot perfectly. Maybe he’d be three quarters human when he got done with it. “Yeah, well. I’d still appreciate it. How was the rest of the evening out here in wide world?”

“The entire county is still dealing with the fallout of Arkham City.”

“That place was like a nuclear bomb, I swear. Screw Ra’s. We’ll be lucky if we get back to normal within the year.”

“It started with the Asylum Riot, really,” Barb said, digging into a carton of fried rice. She paused and looked at him. “I’m really glad the Joker’s dead, Tim. I can’t tell you how glad it makes me.”

“Me, too. I think even Bruce is glad about it.”

“We need to get him to talk about it.”

“That’s going to be like pulling teeth.”

“It’s not healthy for him to keep trying to deal with it on his own.”

“Yeah.” He finished the soup and grabbed the kung pao pork before Barb got it. “I think he almost killed Harley tonight.”

Barb turned her rice over and over mindlessly for a moment. “You’re serious.”

“Never been more serious in my life. I saw her taunting him, and then he turned to the burning building for a second. She tried to sneak up and stab him. I took her out before she got too close, but I’m pretty sure he would have snapped her in half.”

“Bruce…” Barb shut her eyes, then they snapped open. “Wait, were _you_ in that burning building?”

“No, I got the cops out before it went up.” Just.

“Tim, you need to—“

“Quit taking risks? Not this again. Going into harm’s way is what we do, Barb. Someone needs to run in when everyone else is running away.”

She sat back against her headboard. “I know, but it’s just hard to know you’re out there when this is all going down.” She shook her head and resumed eating. “It should be better now, though. Like I said, the Joker’s dead.”

“And Ra’s, with his crazy conspiracies. And Talia. Did you ever meet her?”

“Twice, not for long. She, er, viewed me as competition, I think.”

He’d seen pictures of Talia. She had been amazing. Barb had her beat by miles, though, in his opinion. “You could be.”

Barb blushed. “She just doesn’t like other women near what she regards as her territory for any reason. She’d probably kill Selina if she saw her.” She took another bite of rice. “Or would have, I guess.”

“That family isn’t very good at staying dead.” Tim wondered if that fact would cheer Bruce up, or if anything about his relationship with Talia had ever really been happy.

To him, sitting on his girlfriend’s bed sharing Chinese food, Talia and Bruce’s relationship seemed manipulative as hell.

“I’m pretty sure Talia never used the Pits. I’m not sure she’d be the same person if she did.”

He dropped his fork into the empty carton. That was better, now. “God, I wish Bruce would just talk about it. Or at least not…act out…about it. He’s going to get himself killed this way, or at least get me killed trying to save him.”

“I wish he would, too.” Barb started to lean her head on his shoulder then backed off. “Okay, you need a shower.”

“That’s my plan after food.”

She stretched to grab a towel from a nearby chair. “Here. Come back and finish when you’re clean.”

“All I’ve got is the suit, Barb.”

She picked up her fork and started at the fried rice again. “You’ve got that towel, don’t you?”


End file.
